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Seamus_L
Guest
Let’s start with Palm Sunday. Did anyone’s church have a procession outside ? I might be wrong, but weren’t outdoor processions on Palm Sunday the usual custom 50 years ago.
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Joannm
Guest
50 years ago I was 8 but I don’t ever remember processing outside. I do remember the usher giving us one piece of palm as we waked into church.
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tbtcom1213
Guest
Palm Sunday: Procession was inside the church; heavy time constraints due to back to back Masses; folding palm branches in crosses or purchasing braided palms and palm crosses fastened to a wood back
Monday: Sacrament of Confession in all Churches in the diocese and two neighboring dioceses.
A common tradition on Holy Thursday Night is to visit seven churches after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and pray in front of each of the altars of repose. I’ve done only up to two churches in previous years because other churches close early but perhaps the number will increase with my research on the hours parishes are holding adoration at the repository!
Monday: Sacrament of Confession in all Churches in the diocese and two neighboring dioceses.
A common tradition on Holy Thursday Night is to visit seven churches after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and pray in front of each of the altars of repose. I’ve done only up to two churches in previous years because other churches close early but perhaps the number will increase with my research on the hours parishes are holding adoration at the repository!
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TrueLight
Guest
Wow. That sounds great!
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iohanne
Guest
In my mother’s village in the Philippines, no one carried money at all during Holy Week. The church was kept open all throughout Holy Week, even at night because there were always people in the church praying or keeping vigil. Most people intensified their fasts. Children were taught not to play too roughly or too loudly and to refrain from unnecessary laughter. Unnecessary chatter was avoided. Apparently all the radio stations and all the T.V. stations had only religious programming about the lives of the Saints. In major urban areas there were Passion processions.
There’s also a ritual called Pabasa where they chant from the Pasyon. Here are the Wikipedia articles.
Pasyon
Pabasa
On Good Friday, after the Mass of the Presanctified, many Crucifixes in the Philippines have a removable Corpus which is laid on a cushion underneath a canopy and left in the middle of the sanctuary. People come forward to kiss the Corpus and many of the older people will take off their shoes before even approaching to venerate the Corpus. Again, the church is kept open because many people come in and out to pray, to walk the Stations of the Cross, to meditate, to keep vigil with Christ, etc. Public sorrow is so intense that it’s palpable. You walk into a Church and your heart feels the anguish.
On Easter Sunday, people wake up extra early - which is hard already because the Easter Vigil ended late the night before - to attend an pre-dawn extra-liturgical service called Salubong - “Meeting” - which consists of two processions, one of all the men headed by people carrying a statue of the Risen Christ, the other of all the women headed by people carrying a statue of Our Lady (whose body is covered in black veil) and the two processions end in a designated location called “La Galilea” where the Risen Christ and Our Lady “meet” at sunrise. Some of the little girls of the village, dressed as angels, sing the Regina Coeli and dramatically pull off the black veil of Our Lady. Fireworks go off, doves are released and church bells are rung. It’s supposed to commemorate the first time that Our Lady meets the Resurrected Christ and the joy of mother and Son. Then, both the statue of Our Lady and the Resurrected Christ lead the united procession to the Church where everyone attends the Easter Sunday morning Mass.
There’s also a ritual called Pabasa where they chant from the Pasyon. Here are the Wikipedia articles.
Pasyon
Pabasa
On Good Friday, after the Mass of the Presanctified, many Crucifixes in the Philippines have a removable Corpus which is laid on a cushion underneath a canopy and left in the middle of the sanctuary. People come forward to kiss the Corpus and many of the older people will take off their shoes before even approaching to venerate the Corpus. Again, the church is kept open because many people come in and out to pray, to walk the Stations of the Cross, to meditate, to keep vigil with Christ, etc. Public sorrow is so intense that it’s palpable. You walk into a Church and your heart feels the anguish.
On Easter Sunday, people wake up extra early - which is hard already because the Easter Vigil ended late the night before - to attend an pre-dawn extra-liturgical service called Salubong - “Meeting” - which consists of two processions, one of all the men headed by people carrying a statue of the Risen Christ, the other of all the women headed by people carrying a statue of Our Lady (whose body is covered in black veil) and the two processions end in a designated location called “La Galilea” where the Risen Christ and Our Lady “meet” at sunrise. Some of the little girls of the village, dressed as angels, sing the Regina Coeli and dramatically pull off the black veil of Our Lady. Fireworks go off, doves are released and church bells are rung. It’s supposed to commemorate the first time that Our Lady meets the Resurrected Christ and the joy of mother and Son. Then, both the statue of Our Lady and the Resurrected Christ lead the united procession to the Church where everyone attends the Easter Sunday morning Mass.
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onthisrock
Guest
I think it may be a bishop call…At our church there was a blessing of the palms in the back of the church and then two alter boys carried palms in their hands and stood on either side of the priest…however EVERY priest from my church are straight from Ireland, so that’s why I’m thinking regional or Bishop type decision…If it’s really upsetting you, could you call the liturgical committee at your church or someone at your diocese office? have a good rest of your holy week!
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patrick457
Guest
As a Filipino by birth, I’d like to favorite this post.
Yep. I’ve heard tell that one way parents discouraged their kids during Holy Week from playing was by saying that “the Jews” will get them if they play outside. (Yes, that is, unfortunately, a genuine piece of Anti-Semitism there.
And there aren’t even Jews in the Philippines - at least, they’re a small minority mostly consisting of foreigners!) Oh, and I remember my grandmother making us all take a bath before 3:00 PM, because at that hour water supposedly turns to blood. (Something which was debunked rather quickly. 
)This used to be the case when I was much younger, circa twenty years ago; I don’t know about now, though the last time I was in the Philippines (a year or two ago) many - but by no means all - TV stations seem to no longer follow this custom and ran a (semi-)regular programming.
Yep.
“Oh Diyos sa kalangitan, Hari ng sangkalupaan, Diyos na walang kapantay…”
To supplement your post, here’s what I wrote for another thread a while ago:
…I wish here to mention another Filipino Lenten custom: that of the non-stop (by ‘non-stop’ I mean: even if takes a full twenty-four hours and some days!
) recitation of the Pasyon, a recounting of sacred history from Genesis to Judgment, but more specifically, the life and passion of our Lord (which forms the core of the Pasyon) in octosyllabic verse. These verses are interpersed with aral (“lessons”), a sort of mini-sermon/commentary/exhortation which emphasizes the fulfillment of conventional Christian duties and values, at irregular - they are placed rather awkwardly at some points: at times the aral have nothing to do with or have just a very faint relation with the event just recounted, not to mention that at a few points they tend to break the flow of the story! - intervals.As soon as Holy Week hits, you can be certain that a few families will bring out all the statues and icons of the saints that they have and whip out their copies of the Pasyon (which, for many laypeople, serve as a Reader’s Digest version of the Bible) and perhaps start chanting things like: “Ang unang letra’y Asuncion*, ere nama’y* Resurreccion*: Ang Ikatlo’y* Adoracion*, ele nama’y* Lamentacion…” The interesting part is, when you open a standard copy of the Pasyon (I have one with me now; a PDF version is available online), you’ll never find those lyrics. The heading ARAL which appears at the beginning of every ‘lesson’ is often interpreted and broken down in many mystical ways (the above example is just one variant among many): here, they are taken as an acrostic for Asuncion, Resurreccion, Adoracion and Lamentacion.
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patrick457
Guest
To add to your post, quoting from that same other thread:
There may be some slight variations on the ritual depending on the locale, but the general structure is: at very early dawn even before sunrise, two different processions start at different points. The first consists of the statue of the risen Lord accompanied by men, while the second consists of a statue of Our Lady, with a black mourning veil (lambong) covering her face, accompanied by women and children.
The two processions meet at a predetermined area, often the church courtyard, after each making their way round about the town, from different routes. In this area stands a structure - usually temporary, but in a few areas permanent - often called galilea (‘Galilee’; cf. Matthew 28:7). At the climactic moment, an ‘angel’ appears from the galilea, usually in some ingenious fashion and removes the veil from the statue of the Blessed Virgin (Regina Coeli is sometimes sung at this point), at which point the mood changes into one of joy. Usually following the salubong is the celebration of Mass of Easter Sunday.
I’ve also heard tell of a few churches who use the statue for a reenactment of the Resurrection itself (with tomb and all erected inside the church, near the sanctuary), usually at midnight.
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onthisrock
Guest
The early Christians started Easter Mass at dusk on holy Saturday, and it was not over until dawn on Easter morning. they have cut it down to a 3+ hour Mass, but I love it as it is my anniversary of being Catholic…14 years this Saturday!! never a happier day. Just one quick question…is the Mass of the Presantified what you call holy Thursday? I ask because Good Friday is the ONLY day of the year there is no Mass…all of the hosts used at the Good Friday services were consecrated on holy Thursday, so I was wondering if this is what you were speaking of… anyway. The Philippine people are so faithful, I love it when I have the privilege to meet one…they always know what my medals are and are so disappointed about how secular this country is. thank you for sharing your tradition with us!
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onthisrock
Guest
I am LOVING that you have yourself down as “Catholic on fire”!!! Good stuff!
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onthisrock
Guest
I LOVE holy week, and not because i can watch my favorite TV channel again, or eat meat on Fridays. This Saturday will be my 14th Anniversary of being Catholic! What an experience…from September until Easter Saturday I went to RCIA taught pretty much exclusively by priests (a Capuchin Franciscan Friary, so there were “extras” to help)Everything I learned, the parishioners who were more involved, especially the SFO folks were part of our support. My sponsor, is still my best friend and was my matron of honor (I converted in Philly, where she was going to college, she moved back to San Diego, and years later I was homeless and moved in with her family in SD…so here I am in southern CA) I feel so fortunate to have my sponsor as my spiritual family. Easter vigil…I can still remember the sounds and the smells. The dark ,and then leading to the “Alleluia” once again with trumpets etc. (It was in center city Philadelphia, so we had a concert pianist, and singers from University of the Arts) Receiving communion for the first time was something i just can’t put into words…I woke up for the first Mass, just to do it again…and have been a big daily Mass person since. RCIA ended at Pentecost, and then I started to immediately sponsor woman. I want to get back into doing that in my new church next year Cradle Catholics have a gift from their parents for sure, but I guess fighting for a good thing has it’s own passion too. It was long, but It felt like a half an hour. I’m sorry I went off, but Holy Thursday is another very Biblical and beautiful ceremony. The priests stooping down to wash the parishioner’s feet as Christ did to his apostles. there are signs and symbols all over the church…empty holy water fonts to be filled at Easter, the elaborate foliage to depict the mood of holy week. all I can say again is how much I love being Catholic. How glad I am to not have listened to my anti-Catholic family when I had decided to read the bible from to back…and what I found was the Catholic church waiting for me on the back cover. I am just now starting to be able to be open without starting an apologetics class with family and friends after marrying a wonderful Catholic man two years ago. thank you Jesus for the Church!
Cradle Catholics have a gift from their parents for sure, but I guess fighting for a good thing has it’s own passion too. It was long, but It felt like a half an hour. I’m sorry I went off, but Holy Thursday is another very Biblical and beautiful ceremony. The priests stooping down to wash the parishioner’s feet as Christ did to his apostles. there are signs and symbols all over the church…empty holy water fonts to be filled at Easter, the elaborate foliage to depict the mood of holy week. all I can say again is how much I love being Catholic. How glad I am to not have listened to my anti-Catholic family when I had decided to read the bible from to back…and what I found was the Catholic church waiting for me on the back cover. I am just now starting to be able to be open without starting an apologetics class with family and friends after marrying a wonderful Catholic man two years ago. thank you Jesus for the Church!
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patrick457
Guest
No, the ‘Mass of the Presanctified’ is a popular term for the liturgy on Good Friday. It’s not too accurate a term to use, because just as you point out Good Friday is one of two days of the year when officially there is no Mass (the other is Holy Saturday).
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Seamus_L
Guest
Back in the 90’s we had a radio station that played Classical Music, and they would have a program called “Music For Good Friday”, unfortunately it’s no longer on the air, but it was helpful for getting even more of the mood for Good Friday.
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newyorkcatholic
Guest
Not just a popular term, “Mass of the Presanctified” was the official term once.No, the ‘Mass of the Presanctified’ is a popular term for the liturgy on Good Friday. It’s not too accurate a term to use, because just as you point out Good Friday is one of two days of the year when officially there is no Mass (the other is Holy Saturday).
It’s not accurate, as you say, because Mass implies “Canon including consecration.”
However we could argue (for the sake of it) that Mass really means “Missio - sending forth,” and that this applies to the Good Friday liturgy, but to distinguish it from other Masses we call it “of the Presanctified.” The gifts are presanctified (older language for Consecrated) already on Holy Thursday.
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TrueLight
Guest
Pray that the fire always burns fiercely.I am LOVING that you have yourself down as “Catholic on fire”!!! Good stuff!
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chadair
Guest
our church did!
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bscastro
Guest
I’m doing the seven churches tradition tonight with some friends. This will be my first time doing it. This year, it is very timely, as I’ve been having some spiritual suffering the last few days and this is a nice entry into the Triduum and Easter.
God bless,
Bryan
God bless,
Bryan
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